So for your amusement this Halloween, I present for you my attempts at mixing our beloved daily beverage of choice with the liquid fire that is alcohol. It didn’t really work though a couple pairings have limited promise. I did get one decent cup out of the whole batch, so all was not entirely lost, at least. I wish I could say I had pictures to share with you, but you’ll have to make due with our eerie pool room mascot, who though you can’t really see it, has a hand propped up on a bottle of beer that my husband deems “undrinkable”, but keeps for the bottle. Monsieur Skeleton was the only witness present at my “tastings” aside from my dogs, who were quite happy that *I* was pretty happy, taste bud torture notwithstanding.
Without further ado, here are the 4 concoctions I tried:
Harney & Son’s “Florence” tea with Raspberry Pucker: I like chocolate. I like raspberry. I thought, what better thing than to combine a chocolate/hazelnut tea with raspberry alcohol (mind you, I’d just had a shot of PB&J, which is Frangelico, Raspberry and vodka, so it really did sound like it would work at the time). Needless to say, it didn’t. There wasn’t enough raspberry, and then when I added more, it was too sour. So I added sugar – too sweet. Then I added milk to tone that down, and it curdled in the face of all that alcohol. So yeah, the “Raspberry Florence” went down the drain.
Republic of Tea’s Cranberry Blood Orange tea with Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum and Apple Cider: This one would have been okay I think had I left out the spiced cider. The apple just didn’t go with the cranberry/orange of the tea. I did add sugar, and it was drinkable, but would have been better with just the tea and rum. I would hesitantly recommend this one, but only if you promise to leave either the cider or the tea out. We could call it something like a “Rummy Cranberry Orange”…but even so, it still is missing “something”. If anyone figures it out, please let me know. Heck, maybe it needs orange juice?
Adagio’s Chestnut tea with Frangelico: If you don’t know, Frangelico is a hazelnut flavored liquor that is truly amazing…very good. I was going to try it with Gingerbread tea, but had a change of heart at the last minute, and this is the one drink that actually worked pretty well. I added sugar and milk to the tea, and a splash of Frangelico, and it was serious nutty goodness. Unfortunately, there’s no way to combine the names without being crass…the best I’ve come up with so far is “Monky Nuts” or “Frangel Nuts”, but it did amuse me. Suggestions?
Stash’s Irish Breakfast with Bailey’s Irish Cream: This is the second one that has potential. I think I brewed the tea too long, and used too much Baileys, but coffee drinkers would probably appreciate it. I think a lighter brew, and just an ounce or so of Bailey’s would work fine. I think Bailey’s would probably work well with Keemun tea too, but at that point, I’d had way too much to drink anyways, and a pretty good buzz going on.
I didn’t try a marTEAni, which I had planned to – I couldn’t decide which tea to use, and again, I was buzzed and it was really late by that time. Guess I’ll save that idea for another time…
So there you have it – a good reason it’s dangerous to have an almost full bar on hand with a serious tea stash to drink your way through. I’ll freely admit that I still have plans to pair the “Champagne of Tea” with actual champagne one day, and possibly mix puerh with a good sherry or merlot as well…but that will have to wait for another adventurous night. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll discover the perfect alcoholic tea!
In any case, it was fun trying. I’m not sure why anyone under 21 would be reading this particular blog, but if you are, spare me a lawsuit and don’t try this until you are of legal drinking age, please.
Whatever you’re drinking tonight, Happy Halloween!
Without further ado, here are the 4 concoctions I tried:
Harney & Son’s “Florence” tea with Raspberry Pucker: I like chocolate. I like raspberry. I thought, what better thing than to combine a chocolate/hazelnut tea with raspberry alcohol (mind you, I’d just had a shot of PB&J, which is Frangelico, Raspberry and vodka, so it really did sound like it would work at the time). Needless to say, it didn’t. There wasn’t enough raspberry, and then when I added more, it was too sour. So I added sugar – too sweet. Then I added milk to tone that down, and it curdled in the face of all that alcohol. So yeah, the “Raspberry Florence” went down the drain.
Republic of Tea’s Cranberry Blood Orange tea with Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum and Apple Cider: This one would have been okay I think had I left out the spiced cider. The apple just didn’t go with the cranberry/orange of the tea. I did add sugar, and it was drinkable, but would have been better with just the tea and rum. I would hesitantly recommend this one, but only if you promise to leave either the cider or the tea out. We could call it something like a “Rummy Cranberry Orange”…but even so, it still is missing “something”. If anyone figures it out, please let me know. Heck, maybe it needs orange juice?
Adagio’s Chestnut tea with Frangelico: If you don’t know, Frangelico is a hazelnut flavored liquor that is truly amazing…very good. I was going to try it with Gingerbread tea, but had a change of heart at the last minute, and this is the one drink that actually worked pretty well. I added sugar and milk to the tea, and a splash of Frangelico, and it was serious nutty goodness. Unfortunately, there’s no way to combine the names without being crass…the best I’ve come up with so far is “Monky Nuts” or “Frangel Nuts”, but it did amuse me. Suggestions?
Stash’s Irish Breakfast with Bailey’s Irish Cream: This is the second one that has potential. I think I brewed the tea too long, and used too much Baileys, but coffee drinkers would probably appreciate it. I think a lighter brew, and just an ounce or so of Bailey’s would work fine. I think Bailey’s would probably work well with Keemun tea too, but at that point, I’d had way too much to drink anyways, and a pretty good buzz going on.
I didn’t try a marTEAni, which I had planned to – I couldn’t decide which tea to use, and again, I was buzzed and it was really late by that time. Guess I’ll save that idea for another time…
So there you have it – a good reason it’s dangerous to have an almost full bar on hand with a serious tea stash to drink your way through. I’ll freely admit that I still have plans to pair the “Champagne of Tea” with actual champagne one day, and possibly mix puerh with a good sherry or merlot as well…but that will have to wait for another adventurous night. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll discover the perfect alcoholic tea!
In any case, it was fun trying. I’m not sure why anyone under 21 would be reading this particular blog, but if you are, spare me a lawsuit and don’t try this until you are of legal drinking age, please.
Whatever you’re drinking tonight, Happy Halloween!
Taken from http://teaontap.blogspot.com/
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